For 96-year-old Jean Barron, painting is much more than a fun activity she picked up two years ago.

“From the beginning, I had prayed this wouldn’t be just a hobby, something to occupy my time, but a way to glorify God and I never dreamt this,” said Barron, who’s lived at the retirement community Vi in Highlands Ranch for five years. “I think all the publicity I had is his way of getting glory from it because that was my aim.”

Barron has been a celebrity at the retirement community, where she lives in independent living. Two years ago, she decided to take an art appreciation class at Vi because that’s something she hadn’t done. She discovered that not only could she paint, but she was pretty good at it.

While she was painting the first of the 40 pieces she’s done, she didn’t think her work looked very good. But when she was done, she stood back and said she didn’t think it was bad for a beginner. She said she’s surprised by all this.

She said it became a passion after the second or third painting, and her art teacher was so impressed she started showing her pieces in the community newsletter.

“Wisdom is often defined as knowledge that is gained through experience,” said Jeanne Adams, Vi’s lifestyle director, in an e-mail. “Jean, through painting, expresses expansiveness, wholeness, connection and compassion.”

Adams also said Barron exemplifies the spirit of Vi that encourages residents to try new experiences.

Jane Steinle, Barron’s daughter, said she and sister Maxine Doyle were just as surprised as Barron about her talent. But Doyle remarked how her mother always had a good eye for colors with things such as flower arrangements.

“I think she had some artistic ability that she didn’t recognize,” Steinle said.

Barron has painted copies of other paintings to date and likes to focus on landscapes because it glorifies God’s creations and shows her love for Jesus
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“That’s why I have such zeal, and I keep praying that he will help me to become more experienced or more professional in order to glorify him and not me,” Barron said.

That’s why she said she has yet to sell any of her paintings, although several residents at Vi have offered to buy some.

“I’m not going to profit from this wonderful gift God has given me,” Barron said. “It’s for his glory, not for my profit or anything like that.”

Doyle said Barron is having too much fun giving them away, and she asks family members if they’d like something painted.

She said her most challenging painting was called “Field of Flowers” by contemporary Dutch artist Peter van Berkel, which hangs in the main hallway of Vi’s independent living center. It was difficult because the painting takes up almost an entire wall, so Barron had to break it down in sections and get the proportions right. Her smaller version sits right next to it now.

Barron has had a lot of success with impressionist painting, but she likes realism the most because of the detail. She’s often inspired to paint by scenes of nature.

“I look out at that snow and I think, ‘Oh, how could I get those trees covered in snow on the canvas?’ ” Barron said.

One of her biggest challenges is trying to capture the perfect sunset on canvas, and she continually works to get better about capturing light.

Barron was a hairdresser earlier in life, but a housewife most of the time. Sarah Harman, community relations manager for Vi, said Barron has inspired others to join the art class.

“I keep telling people I’m the most blessed woman on the planet,” Barron said. ” I have perfect health at my age, which is so rare, and it’s nothing I’ve done. It’s all through the Lord working through me.”

The owners of Boulder’s Sterling University Peaks apartments, who this summer were cited for illegally subdividing 92 bedrooms in the complex, have reached an agreement to settle the case for $410,000, the city announced Thursday.